Doug Ghim Leads the John Deere Classic After Two Spectacular Eagles
SILVIS, Ill. – Doug Ghim made an eagle from the fairway for the second straight day, leading to a round of 68 strokes, 3 under par, and a one-stroke lead at the John Deere Classic. This is the first time in his six years on the PGA Tour that he has led after 36 holes. Defending champion Davis Thompson (63) and Max Homa (68) are among the five players within one stroke of the leader heading into the weekend. Tee times were moved up on Saturday due to the forecast of rain. Ghim holed out on the 6th hole, a short par-4, in the opening round. This time, he did it from 179 yards on the 15th hole, also a par-4.Ghim had a two-stroke lead until his shot went left, hitting the trees and going down a cart path. He managed to get out through the green and leave the ball 18 feet away, missing the putt and making his second bogey of the round. He was at 12 under par, 130. The Mexico Open winner, Brian Campbell (66), David Lipsky (67), and Emiliano Grillo (66) tied for second place. Ghim feels he is still far from having the opportunity to win for the first time in a tournament that has produced more first-time winners than any PGA Tour event since 1970.I guess making two in a row is always nice. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve made one from the street. Getting two consecutive days is great.
Doug Ghim
Homa was tied with Ghim late in the afternoon, when the greens were drying out and getting firm. But on the 18th hole, his tee shot went into a bunker, missing the green to the right and missing a 12-foot par putt to fall one stroke behind. He’s still in good shape heading into the weekend as he tries to improve his game. Putting four rounds together, or even three, has been the difficulty, and Homa didn’t sound like he was willing to get too far ahead of himself.The person who will win this tournament will be in the area of 20 under par, so the last time I checked, I’m not there yet. I don’t feel like I’m leading, and I’m happy to be able to go out late tomorrow in the competition.
Doug Ghim
Thompson played in the morning and was the first to reach 11-under, 131, as he tries to become the first repeat winner of the John Deere Classic since Steve Stricker won three in a row from 2009 to 2011. There was a great drama at the end of the day that ended up establishing the cut at 5 under par, 137. Rikuya Hoshino and Jesper Svensson birdied their final hole to move the cut line to 5-under par, only for Paul Peterson to bogey his final hole to move it back to 4-under par. But in the final group, Brendan Valdes nailed his tee shot on the 18th hole, par 4, hit his approach to about 8 feet and holed the birdie putt for a 66. That moved the cut back to 5 under par, eliminating 14 players from the weekend. Rickie Fowler and Jake Knapp made the cut.I don’t think it changes much. Just play the golf course. You’re going to have to play really low. If you went out and tried to do something specific, I’m not sure that would work. Someone can go out and shoot 11 under par and beat everybody. So just go and do what we did today and play another round of golf. Just keep waiting until the back nine on Sunday, basically.
Max Homa
Meanwhile, 12 players were separated by two strokes heading into the third round, a group that includes Camilo Villegas, Sam Stevens, and Si Woo Kim. Stevens and Kim are trying to finish high enough to move up in the world ranking that will be used next week to establish the alternate list for the British Open.
